Fare-indicator.



A. G. DECK-ER. FARE INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, 1911. 1,01 3,279. Patented Jan. 2, 1912 2 SHEETSSHEEI; 1.

COLUMBIA I'LANOGRAI'H COUWASHINGTON. u. c.

A. G. DECKER.

FARE INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 14, 1911. 1,01 3,279. Patented Ja 11.2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

wih w ooeo 5] W02 wfoz UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO G. DECKER, OF ORANGEVILLE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 INTERNATIONAL TAXAMETER COMPANY OF AMERICA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FARE-INDICATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO G. DECKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Orangeville, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fare- Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to fare indicators, and is well adapted for use in connection with such indicators that are employed upon taxameter vehicles.

The invention has for its object to provide means whereby the fare indicating wheels will be held against accidental movement and will be maintained in adjusted position by means which securely hold the said wheels at all times excepting when it is desired that the wheels should be released for the purpose of being restored to zero.

My invention is particularly applicable to a fare indicator of the type shown in my application No. 555,714 filed April 15, 1910, although I do not consider that it is necessarily limited to use with such particular type of machine.

A desired form in which my invention may be embodied is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a face view of a portion of the front plate of a fare indicator to which my invention has been applied; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of such front plate; Fig. 3 is a top view thereof; Fig. 4 is a plan view of a shutter employed to cover the indicating wheels; Fig. 5 is a side elevation thereof illustrating a fare indicating wheel-restoring slide; Fig. 6 is a detail side view of a fare indicating wheel and a restoring heart cam; Fig. 7 is a face view of the same parts; Figs. 8 and 9 are side and face views of transferring wheels and fare-indicating Wheels.

I will describe my invention as applied to a machine of the type of those illustrated in my former application, and in view of the fact that many parts of the said machine are not essential to an understanding of the invention of my present application, I have omitted such parts, as their presence would tend only to confuse and lengthen the description without corresponding benefit.

In my former application the sliding rod A which is the actuator for the fare indicating wheels, actuates the said wheels in Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2,1912.

Serial No. 602,723.

the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings through the pawl a. The said fare indicating wheels as illustrated comprise three wheels B, B B which indicate respectively tens of dollars, units of dollars, and units of dimes. The units of dimes wheel B is associated with a ratchel wheel 6, and this ratchet wheel is operated from the pawl a and is held from accidental disslacement by a detent which is pivotally mounted in the casing, and has an arm 6 through which it may be released for the purpose of restoring the said wheels to their position as hereinafter described.

In my former application the detent b was released from its holding position by the actuator A. This operation of the re-- leasing means is attended with the disadvantage that the fare indicating wheels detent is released when it is not required that it should be released, and at a time when the restoring means are not operative. My present invention therefore aims to provide means whereby the said holding detent will be released only when the restoring means are to operate. This I accomplish by operating the said releasing means directly from the setting shaft C. Upon the said shaft in front of the front plate X, I locate a cam 0 which as illustrated is in the form of a mutilated disk, and upon this is a pin 0 A bell-crank lever D is pivotally mounted upon the front plate, where it may if desired be held in contact with the hub 0 of arm 0 by coiled spring (Z Arm (l of the said bell crank has a cam face (Z which is situated within the ambit of pin 0 and as the said pin revolves it will encounter the said face and depress the arm cl, lifting the detent 6 out of contact with the ratchet b. I prefer to release the said ratchet from the setting shaft 0, and while the means employed for effecting such release from said shaft are suitable for the purpose, they are not the only means which could be employed, as equivalent devices could be substituted.

The other features of the structure which are here illustrated because they are associated with the operation of the parts described, are fully described in my former application referred to, and as their construction is not varied, and as they form no part of the present invention I will refer to them only briefly. The indicating wheels B, B and B are each associated with restoring heart cams b and have devices for transferring from a wheel to the next higher wheel which are usual in such devices. A shutter F is slidably mounted upon a frame 7', and this frame carries restoring slides 7 which operate in connection with the heart cams to restore the indicator wheels to zero. The shutter F is lowered in the operation of 'the fare indicator by means operated from the setting shaft G when the said shaft is turned for a fresh engagement of the vehicle and which are not shown as they form no part of the present invention. As the shutter is lowered pointed slides f carried thereby (Fig. 5) are correspondingly lowered. There is one of said slides for each indicator wheel. The indicator wheels are loose on their shaft and each carries a heart cam 5 As each slide f is lowered it encounters one of the heart cams b and turns the same until the indicators are restored to initial position so that they may be ready to indicate charges for the new engagement of the vehicle. The actuator A has means for operating an indicator G described in my previous application, and carries the means for setting the machine to various positions and controlling the operating mechanism. Such means are located to the right of the front plate X, as indicated in Fig. 2, and are not illustrated.

I claim as my invention 1. In a fare indicator, fare indicating wheels, an operating ratchet associated therewith, an actuator for said wheels comprising a longitudinally sliding rod, a pawl carried thereby and adapted to engage said ratchet, and to be disengaged therefrom by an abnormal depression of said sliding rod, means for restoring said Wheels, means for holding said wheels against accidental move ment, a revolving shaft, and means directly operated thereby for releasing said holding means to permit the operation of the restoring means comprising a cam carried by said shaft, and a bell crank lever having one end within the ambit of said cam and one end adapted to release said holding means, upon the operation of which said ratchet is released from said pawl and said holding means, and said indicator wheels are free to be operated by said restoring means.

2. In a fare indicator, fare indicating wheels, a ratchet associated therewith, an -5 actuator for said wheels, comprising a longitudinally sliding spring retracted rod, a pawl thereon adapted to engage said ratchet and to be disengaged therefrom by an ab normal depression of said rod against its spring, means for restoring said wheels, means for holding said wheels against accidental movement comprising a detent normally engaging said ratchet and holding said wheels against accidental movement, a revolving shaft and a cam on said shaft, and a bell crank having one arm within the ambit of said cam and the other arm adapted to release said detent.

3. In a fare indicator, fare indicating wheels, an associated ratchet, restoring means for said indicating wheels, reciprocating actuating means for said indicating v heels adapted to be disconnected from said indicating wheels by an abnormal move ment of said actuating means, a holding detent adapted to engage said ratchet, a revolving shaft and means for releasing said holding means and permitting said restoring means to operate comprising a cam on said shaft, a lever adapted to engage said holding detent, and having a portion within the ambit of said cam and adapted to be engaged thereby and to release said detent.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALONZO G. DECK-ER.

Witnesses LoUIs REHBERGER, J11, S. DUNCAN BLACK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

